Examining Mathematics Classroom Interactions: Elevating Student Roles in Teaching and Learning

This article introduces a model entitled, “Responsive Teaching through Problem Posing” or RTPP, that addresses a type of reform oriented mathematics teaching based on posing relevant problems, positioning students as experts of mathematics, and facilitating discourse.  RTPP incorporates decades of research on students’ thinking in mathematics and more recent research on responsive teaching practices.  Two classroom case studies are presented.  A high school unit on functions is explored utilizing individual research on the part of the teacher to enact RTPP lessons.  A middle school teacher enacts a RTPP lesson on proportions and utilizes this model to bridge students’ incorrect additive reasoning strategies with correct multiplicative reasoning strategies.  The results showed that both teachers were able to elevate students’ roles in classroom discussions through implementation of RTPP.  Individual research conducted by the high school teacher informed his RTPP approach while participation in professional development sessions with a classroom embedded component influenced the middle school teacher’s enactment of RTPP lessons.  Both teachers used specific teacher moves within RTPP to relinquish their role as mathematics experts in order to elevate their students’ roles in classroom discussions.  The RTPP cycle is offered as a potential model for studying mathematics teaching and learning across a variety of secondary mathematics classrooms.